U.S. patent number 3,973,605 [Application Number 05/613,756] was granted by the patent office on 1976-08-10 for driving tool barrel assembly.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Textron, Inc.. Invention is credited to Charles J. DeCaro.
United States Patent |
3,973,605 |
DeCaro |
August 10, 1976 |
Driving tool barrel assembly
Abstract
A barrel assembly for a fastener driving tool includes an outer
sleeve adapted for connection to the driving tool, an inner sleeve
retractably attached within the outer sleeve and a barrel pivotally
and retractably connected to the inner sleeve. A breech collar is
positioned in the inner sleeve and matingly engages the barrel end.
Guide fingers extend through the barrel wall into the bore to
position and guide the fasteners placed therein. The fasteners are
inserted into the barrel bore by pivotally opening the barrel and
exposing the barrel bore at the connected end of the barrel.
Inventors: |
DeCaro; Charles J. (Marshfield,
MA) |
Assignee: |
Textron, Inc. (Providence,
RI)
|
Family
ID: |
24458577 |
Appl.
No.: |
05/613,756 |
Filed: |
September 16, 1975 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
81/431; 227/10;
81/54 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B25B
23/10 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
B25B
23/02 (20060101); B25B 23/10 (20060101); B25B
023/10 () |
Field of
Search: |
;144/32 ;81/54
;227/10 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Schran; Donald R.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Webb, Burden, Robinson &
Webb
Claims
I claim:
1. A barrel assembly suitable for connection to a fastener driving
tool having a tool body and a driver comprising:
A. an outer sleeve adapted for attachment at one end to the tool
body;
B. an inner sleeve retractably mounted to the outer sleeve so as to
be retractable therein;
C. a barrel retractably and pivotally connected at a first end to
the inner sleeve so as to be retractable therein and moveable from
a first position in axial alignment with the inner sleeve into a
second position in which there is access to a barrel bore through
the first end;
D. biasing means associated with the inner sleeve and the barrel to
urge them into an extended position.
2. The barrel assembly of claim 1 including a breech collar
positioned within the inner sleeve and in mating engagement with
the first end of the barrel in the first position.
3. The barrel assembly of claim 2, said breech collar having an
annular inner shoulder to accommodate the biasing means and an
outer chamfered annular lip for mating engagement with an annular
internally chamfered recess in the barrel first end.
4. The barrel assembly of claim 1, including guide means associated
with the barrel, said guide means extending into the barrel bore to
align and guide a fastener placed therein.
5. The barrel assembly of claim 4, said guide means comprising a
plurality of fingers, each finger pivotally connected in slots
extending through the barrel and retaining means associated with
the fingers to maintain the proper alignment and guide relationship
of the fingers with a fastener.
6. The barrel assembly of claim 1 including an end bushing
adjustably connected to a distal end of the barrel so as to engage
a workpiece and adjust the effective axial extent of the barrel and
bushing relative to the driver.
7. The barrel assembly of claim 1, said outer sleeve having an
elongated slot therein, said inner sleeve having a guide pin
extending outwardly therefrom and extending through the elongated
slot so as to be slidable therein.
8. The barrel assembly of claim 1, said outer sleeve having a
tapped threaded end for attachment to the tool body and an internal
annular shoulder to limit the retraction of the inner sleeve
thereinto.
9. The barrel assembly of claim 1, said inner sleeve terminating in
opposing flanges having hinge pins extending therefrom for
connection to the barrel, a portion of the sleeve between the
flanges being sloped to limit the pivotal movement of the barrel in
the first position.
10. The barrel assembly of claim 9, said barrel having bayonet
slots to form a bayonet connection with the hinge pins of the inner
sleeve, said bayonet slots having an extended slot portion for
travel along the hinge pins as the barrel is retractable into the
inner sleeve.
11. A barrel assembly suitable for connection to a driving tool
having a tool body and a driver comprising:
A. an outer sleeve adapted for attachment at one end to the tool
body;
B. an inner sleeve retractably mounted to the outer sleeve so as to
be retractable therein, said inner sleeve terminating in opposing
flanges having hinge pins extending therefrom;
C. a breech collar positioned within the inner sleeve and having an
annular inner shoulder and an outer chamfered lip;
D. a barrel having bayonet slots at one end for retractable and
pivotal connection to said hinge pins, said slots having an
extended portion for travel along the hinge pins as the barrel is
retractable into the inner sleeve, said barrel pivotable from a
first position in axial alignment with the inner sleeve to a second
position in which there is access to a barrel bore through said one
end, said barrel including an annular internally chamfered recess
at said one end for mating engagement with said breech collar lip
in said first position;
E. a plurality of fingers pivotally mounted in spaced relationship
in slots extending through the barrel so as to extend into the
barrel bore to align and guide a fastener placed therein;
F. resilient means associated with the fingers to urge said fingers
into the bore; and
G. spring means positioned between the driving tool and the breech
collar inner shoulder to urge said sleeves and barrel into an
extended position.
12. The barrel assembly of claim 11, including an end bushing
threadably connected to a distal end of the barrel and adjustable
to change the axial extent of the barrel and bushing.
13. The barrel assembly of claim 11, wherein said resilient means
comprises a ring positioned in a transverse groove about the barrel
and in abutting relationship with said fingers.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
My invention relates to driving tools and, more particularly, to
driving tools having barrel assemblies which can be loaded by
pivotally opening the barrel to expose the bore thereof at its
connected end.
Many driving tools have been developed for driving fasteners into
workpieces. Two of the problems associated with such tools involve
the loading of the tools and the aligning of the fasteners within
the tools. Most tools merely are positioned over a fastener which
is thereafter driven into the workpiece. The chance of misaligned
and "walking" fasteners remains high with such tooling. In
addition, the manual positioning of a fastener does not lend itself
to an efficient and labor savings construction or industrial
application. Cartridge type loading mechanisms remain complex in
design and not readily amenable to wide ranges of fastener
sizes.
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,688,964, I disclosed a quick opening barrel with
a quick disconnect feature for a power actuated driving tool in
which a driver is actuated by a caseless powder load. However, the
problems presented with a standard driving tool are different since
the driver must be connected to the torquing mechanism in the tool
and must be extendable through the barrel so as to engage the
fastener. Therefore, to use such a quick opening barrel, the driver
must be out of the way in the nondriving or relaxed position.
Further, if the fastener is not held by hand, it must be properly
aligned so when it is engaged by the driver, it will penetrate
directly and vertically into the workpiece.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
I have provided a quick opening driving tool barrel assembly which
is operable with a standard driving tool and driver. My assembly
eliminates the misalignment of fasteners and permits rapid fastener
loading and installation.
My barrel assembly includes an outer sleeve connectable to the
driving tool. An inner sleeve is connected to and retractable
within the outer sleeve and a barrel is pivotally connected to and
retractable within the inner sleeve. The barrel is aligned through
mating engagement with a breech collar positioned within the inner
sleeve. The telescoping members are spring biased so as to return
to an extended position. Guide fingers extend through to barrel
wall so as to align the fastener within the barrel bore. The barrel
bore is opened for receiving the fastener through a pivotal action
about hinge pins. An end bushing is adjustably connected to the
barrel to adjust for the stroke of the actual driver.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is an isometric of my barrel assembly;
FIG. 2 is a section through my barrel assembly;
FIG. 3 is an exploded view of my barrel assembly showing the
various components thereof;
FIG. 4 is a section taken in the general area of the inner sleeve
and barrel connection;
FIG. 5 is a section taken in the general area of the end of the
barrel;
FIG. 6 is a bottom view of the barrel; and
FIG. 7 is a section taken along section lines VII--VII of FIG.
6.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
My barrel assembly, generally designated 10, is adapted for
attachment to a standard driving tool (not shown) of the type used
to drive fasteners into workpieces, FIG. 1. Actuation of the
driving tool rotates a driver 12 which has a socket 80 for engaging
the fastener 84 to screw it into a workpiece (not shown) FIGS. 4
and 5.
My barrel assembly 10 includes an outer sleeve 14 adapted for
connection to the driving tool, FIGS. 1-3. An inner sleeve 16
attaches to and is retractable into the outer sleeve 14. A breech
collar 18 is slidably positioned within the inner sleeve 16. A
barrel 20 pivotally connects to the inner sleeve 16 in mating
engagement with the breech collar 18. Barrel 20 is also retractable
into inner sleeve 16 and is pivotally open in the same manner as a
shot gun. The retractable inner sleeve 16 and retractable barrel 20
are biased in an extended position by means of a spring 24 which
engages the driving tool at one end and the breech collar 18 at the
other end. An adjustable end bushing 22 attaches to the barrel 20
and a plurality of locating or guide fingers 26 are positioned
within slots 58 in the barrel 20. The fingers 26 extend into the
barrel 20 for holding and maintaining a proper alignment of the
fastener 84, FIGS. 5 and 7.
Specifically, the outer sleeve 14 has internally tapped threads 30
which terminate at an upper shoulder 32 for threadable engagement
to the driving tool (not shown) FIG. 2. Outer sleeve 14 also
includes a lower shoulder 34 which acts as a stop for the
retractable inner sleeve 16. An elongated slot 28 extends through
the wall of outer sleeve 14 to retain the inner sleeve 16 as
described hereinafter, FIGS. 1 and 3. Slot 28 could also form the
stop for sleeve 16.
The inner sleeve 16 is positioned partially within outer sleeve 14
and is retained within the outer sleeve 14 by means of a guide pin
38 which connects to the inner sleeve 16 and rides within the
elongated slot 28, FIGS. 1 and 3. The upper surface 36 of the inner
sleeve 16 engages the lower shoulder 34 of the outer sleeve 14 to
limit the retractability of the inner sleeve 16, FIG. 2. The wall
of the distal end of inner sleeve 16 is cut through at an angle to
the bore axis so as to form opposing flanges 40 and sloped surfaces
42. These sloped surfaces 42 act as a stop to limit the extent of
the opening of the barrel 20 while at the same time exposing the
bore of the barrel in the open position. Opposing hinge pins 46 are
connected to and extend inwardly from each of the flanges 40.
The breech collar 18 is slidably positioned within the bore of
inner sleeve 16 by introducing it through the top of inner sleeve
16, FIG. 2. Hinge pins 46 act as a stop for the breech collar 18 so
that breech collar 18 does not fall out of the inner sleeve 16 when
the barrel 20 is opened or removed. The bore of breech collar 18
terminates in an annular inner shoulder 48 which accommodates the
spring 24, FIG. 4. Breech collar 18 also terminates in an outer
chamfered annular lip 50 which matingly engages the barrel 20 in
the operable position of the barrel assembly 10.
The barrel 20 has bayonet slots 52 along opposing outer wall
surfaces thereof to form a bayonet connection with the hinge pins
46 for connecting the barrel 20 to the inner sleeve 16, FIGS. 2 and
3. The bayonet connection formed permits rapid removal of the
barrel 20. The bayonet slot 52 has an extended slot portion 54
which extends axially along the barrel 20 and which permits the
barrel 20 to retract into the inner sleeve 16 as the extended slot
54 of the bayonet slot 52 rides along the hinge pins 46. The
connecting end of barrel 20 includes an annular internally
chamfered recess 56 which matingly engages the chamfered lip 50 of
the breech collar 18 so as to maintain an axial alignment between
the bores of the inner sleeve 16, the barrel 20 and the breech
collar 18, FIG. 4. Three equally spaced side slots 58 extend
through the wall of barrel 20 into the barrel bore near the
unattached end thereof. These slots 58 accommodate the fastener
locating fingers 26 as will be described hereinafter. Likewise, a
groove 60 extends transversely about the barrel 20 and through the
side slots 58, FIGS. 3 and 5. This groove 60 accommodates a
resilient retaining ring 76 which acts to maintain the fingers 26
in the proper position. The distal end of the barrel 20 is
threadably tapped to accommodate the adjusting bushing 22.
The adjustable end bushing 22 includes a threaded shank 66 for
engagement with the tapped thread 64 of barrel 20, FIG. 3. End
bushing 22 terminates in surface 68 which engages the
workpiece.
Three fingers 26 are pivotally secured in the side slots 58 through
connecting pins 72 which extend through holes 62 on either side of
the side slots 58 in the barrel wall, FIGS. 3, 5-7. Retaining ring
76, which is positioned in groove 60, abuts the fingers 26 so that
the sloped surfaces 74 thereof are within the bore of barrel 20 so
as to properly align the fastener 84, FIGS. 5 and 7.
The fastener 84 is illustrated as having the washer 90 positioned
on the shank 86 in spaced relationship to the fastener head 88,
FIGS. 1 and 5. The washer 90 is so positioned so that when the
fastener is inserted into the barrel 20 it will come to rest on the
fingers 26 in a manner such as to prevent the point of the fastener
from extending beyond the end of the bushing 22. Thus, when the
fastener 84 is started in the work surface, the washer 90 will be
in engagement with the fingers so as to provide better alignment
and thereby start the fastener in a perpendicular relationship with
the face of the workpiece. This centering effect also makes it
easier for the driver socket 80, FIG. 4, to pick up the head 88 of
the fastener 84. Therefore, the fingers 26 serve to hold the
fastener in position for engagement by the socket 80 and then to
retain and guide the fastener 84 while it is being driven. Another
reason for locating the washer 90 near the point of the fastener 84
is to better center the point of the fastener to facilitate it
centering itself between the fingers 26. This permits the presence
of circumferential gaps between adjacent fingers 26, FIG. 6,
without fear of having the point of the fastener 84 wedged between
two adjacent fingers in an off-center position.
An important feature of the invention is the ability of the inner
sleeve 16 to retract within outer sleeve 14. If the inner sleeve 16
and outer sleeve 14 were of a one piece construction, it would be
necessary to remove the driver 12 before the barrel 20 could be
opened to receive a fastener. This is true because driver 12 must
be able to travel all the way to the end of barrel 20 and end
bushing 22 to properly seat the fastener. With a one piece sleeve
construction the driver 12 could be prevented from attaining a
proper position by the fact that the bottom surface comparable to
surface 44 would contact the work surface before the driver 12
could properly set the fastener. By utilizing an outer sleeve 14
and a retractable inner sleeve 16, the travel of the driver 12 is
not restricted by the location of hinge pins 46 and surface 44
because as the tool is pushed down, the barrel 20 will telescope
into sleeve 16 until hinge pins 46 bottom at the end of elongated
slot portion 54 of the bayonet connection 52, at which point both
the barrel 20 and the inner sleeve 16 will telescope into outer
sleeve 14 thereby permitting the driver 12 to further enter barrel
20 until it has attained the travel necessary to properly set the
fastener 84. At this point upper surface 36 of inner sleeve 16 will
have contacted the lower shoulder 34 of outer sleeve 14. The
telescoping action just described can actually take place
simultaneously rather than as two consecutive actions as
described.
Because of the tolerances of the various components and the
cumulative effect of these tolerances, the adjusting end bushing 22
is provided so that the stroke of the driver 12 relative to the end
of the bushing 22 can be adjusted. The bushing 22 has fine pitch
threads on shank 66 so that adjustments on the order of five
thousandths to one hundredths of an inch can be made. This assures
that the fasteners will be properly set in the workpiece.
The loading and operation of the tool is as follows. The barrel 20
is placed in a relaxed or open position by merely rotating barrel
20 about guide pins 46, FIG. 1. This then exposes the bore of
barrel 20 and a fastener 84 is merely dropped thereinto. The
fastener will free fall along the bore of barrel 20 until the
washer 90 engages the fingers 26. The barrel 20 is then rotated
into a closed position where the internally chamfered recess 56
snaps into mating engagement with the chamfered lip 50 of the
breech collar 18 which is being maintained in biased position by
the spring 24. The end surface 68 of bushing 22 is positioned
against the workpiece and the driving tool is pushed forward and
actuated. The barrel 20 and inner sleeve 16 retract into the inner
sleeve 16 and the outer sleeve 14 respectively as described
hereinbefore and the socket 80 of driver 12 engages the head 88 of
fastener 84 so as to drive it into the workpiece.
After the driving tool is removed from the workpiece, the spring 24
urges the telescoping components into their extended position
thereby positioning driver 12 above the end of barrel 20 so as to
permit barrel 20 to be opened and the sequence of operations
repeated.
* * * * *